As Apple-FBI Showdown Looms, Attorney General To Advocate For Cooperation Between Tech And Law Enforcement

SAN FRANCISCO — Set to speak in Apple's backyard Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is expected to preach cooperation between Silicon Valley and Washington in the fight against online crime and terrorism activity. Lynch's comments come as the legal fight between Apple and the Department of Justice intensifies.

Speaking at the RSA Conference on cybersecurity in San Francisco Tuesday afternoon, Lynch is likely to advocate for teamwork between tech and law enforcement while also highlighting the FBI and other agencies' need for breaking through encrypted technology to gather necessary information, according to the Wall Street Journal, which obtained an advance copy of Lynch's remarks.

“The going-dark problem is a very real threat to law enforcement’s mission to protect public safety and ensure that criminals are caught and held accountable,’’ Lynch is expected to say. "We owe it to the victims and to the public, whose safety we must protect, to ensure we have done everything under the law to fully investigate terrorist attacks and criminal activity on American soil.’’

Lynch is scheduled to speak one day after a New York federal judge rejected the government's request for a court order forcing Apple to unlock the iPhone of a suspected drug trafficker. That case could have an impact on another case in California federal court, where the FBI obtained a court order requiring Apple to unlock the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of two shooters who killed 14 at an office party in San Bernardino, California, last December.

“As recent events have made clear, the stakes aren’t theoretical; they bear directly upon our public safety and our national security," Lynch is expected to say.